Dear GC,
eBay said your camera was detained because it contained more than three lithium batteries, which meant it was unable to be internationally shipped due to safety restrictions. However, this does not prevent it being shipped somewhere in the UK by the third party company which runs its “global shipping hub”, apparently.
It appears you were misinformed by the eBay employee you chatted with, as indeed, your camera was never destroyed. However, instead of giving you the option to have it returned, the third party company allowed it to be resold to another buyer in the UK.
You feel something very shady has gone on here but when I asked eBay it said it was well aware of this practice at the global shipping hub.
A spokesman said: “We understand Mr C’s frustration around his recent experience on eBay and would like to apologise for the incorrect information given to him when he contacted our customer service team.
“The global shipping programme is managed by a third party, which is responsible for this service. When sellers use the service, they have a direct relationship with this third party.
“It is the responsibility of this third party to determine whether an item can be safely delivered, and to dispose of items that they have determined cannot be delivered. Disposal may include resale via another third party or destruction at its discretion.”
I can see why you’re extremely miffed about all this. You felt lied to by eBay, and you see its misinformation as having denied you the chance to be reunited with your camera. It’s also the case that the camera was resold for £24 more than you originally sold it for, which may be somewhat galling.
I’m really sorry, and it gives me no pleasure to say this, but when you posted it and accepted payment you relinquished ownership of the camera, meaning it is no longer yours to make decisions over.
However, this does not excuse eBay’s inaccurate explanation of the situation, nor its failure to have been more explicit about the fact that your camera might end up being resold.
Since you’re not out of pocket and the camera now rightfully belongs to someone else, there isn’t much I can do now other than make fellow eBay sellers aware.